365 days of food

There are times when the simplest of recipes to prepare end up being some of the best to eat, and this is one of those times. I could see this becoming a regular in anybody’s household. It’s far within most people’s comfort zones, simple to make, and has everything most people look for in a meal. You have your starch, your protein, your dairy, and your veggies all in one colorful dish!

While trying to get my husband’s opinion on the dish for this blog, as I often try to do because I feel like he is a “meat and potatoes” kind of guy and therefore harder to please when it comes to trying new things, I was given a rating of 8 out of 10. When I asked him to elaborate on that, he simply said “the tomatoes weren’t terrible”. Not exactly helpful if you ask me… I mentioned such to him and that my readers are not going to want to try a dish that is described as being “not terrible”. He said that if someone like himself, who hates tomatoes, would say the dish was an 8 and that he liked it in spite of the tomatoes that it must be good. So there you have it… the tomatoes aren’t terrible.

I, on the other hand, and I might add I also don’t like large pieces of tomato, thought they were not only “not terrible” but that they were a key ingredient in the dish, and part of what makes it so fantastic. All the freshness added by the tomatoes, onions, peas, and parsley give this a light feeling not typical of most pasta dishes. This is also true because of the orzo, which is a small pasta, but seems a lot like rice in shape and texture. The orzo is perfect for this because it gives it a risotto feel and leave it so creamy in texture with the Asiago. The only change I made to this recipe was to pre-cook my chicken. I did this mostly because it had been in my fridge for a few too many days and I was nervous to leave it in there a couple more until I was ready to cook it. As often happens, I took my meat out with specific dates in mind, but plans changed, and things got pushed back a couple days. Rather than waste the meat I just cooked the chicken with a little salt and pepper in the skillet and put it back in the fridge. I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about boiling the chicken for so little time in this recipe (and especially now because my orzo only took 9 minutes to cook) from a raw state, and it being done properly. So even when I make this next… and there will be a next time…. I will pre-cook the chicken as I did this time. For the wine I again used the Moscato I had opened the night before and it worked very well for this….. and was also quite enjoyed straight from the bottle as I was cooking… shhh! Good thing I was only cooking for my husband and I lol.

Do your prep work ahead of time so you can keep your attention on the pasta, and stirring it. You also don’t want to over cook your pasta into mush!

In a dutch oven combine broth and white wine. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and orzo. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 9-12 minutes or until pasta is done, but still a bit al dente. Mine took about 9 minutes. Stir frequently the entire time. About halfway through cook time add your dry herbs, salt and pepper.

In the last minute add the tomatoes and green onions.

Remove from heat, add in the frozen peas and stir around to help cook the pasta. Add in your cheese and parsley and serve.